Category Archives: Applications

Pradeep Lall, John and Anne MacFarlane professor of mechanical engineering, has received a top award from the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers program.

Lall received the 2016 Alexander Schwarzkopf Prize for Technological Innovation for his work as director of Auburn University’s Center for Advanced Vehicle and Extreme Environment Electronics, or CAVE3, which partners with industry, government and academic agencies to address major technological challenges through precompetitive research on automotive and harsh environment electronics. Precompetitive research allows the center to address these challenges before the technologies become commercialized.

“This award is reaffirmation of Dr. Lall’s national reputation and recognition of his seminal contributions to the field of mechanical engineering,” said Christopher B. Roberts, dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

Lall’s research focuses on the development of methods for assuring survivability of electronics to high shock forces, vibration and extreme temperatures. He is best known for his research in the areas of reliability and prognostics for electronic systems operating in harsh environments.

“Electronic systems have taken an increasingly important role in automotive design and operation,” Lall said. “Traditional automotive electronics at one time consisted of climate control and entertainment systems. Roll the clock forward to the present day and automotive electronics have expanded to include driving assists such as antilock braking systems, traction control systems, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning systems and more. Failure of one of these systems is no longer an inconvenience; it may be critical to the safe operation of the vehicle.”

Founded in 1999 as the Center for Advanced Vehicle Electronics, CAVE3 has over the years expanded its expertise to include extreme environment electronics. Lall has been the center’s director since 2008, following his appointment as associate director in 2004. Lall also directs Auburn’s Harsh Environments Node of the NextFlex Manufacturing Institute, part of a national manufacturing effort on harsh environment electronics led by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Lall joined the Auburn faculty in 2002 after a distinguished industry career at Motorola, where he worked on the development and manufacture of wireless products such as cellphones and two-way radios.

“Dr. Lall’s recognition with the Alex Schwarzkopf Prize is evidence of the societal and transformational impact that Auburn University is making on automotive and harsh environment technologies in everyday life,” said John Mason, Auburn’s vice president for research and economic development.

NSF’s cooperative research centers program was established in 1973 by Schwarzkopf to develop long-term research partnerships among industry, academe and government in areas of mutual interest. The Alexander Schwarzkopf Prize for Technological Innovation has been presented annually since 2003 to an individual or team at a member institution whose research makes an exemplary contribution to technology innovation. More than 100 universities and nearly a thousand researchers are members.

MEMS, a pivotal technololgy predominantly used in the automotive industry, serves to enhance vehicle features. While the automotive MEMS technology has been widely adopted for vehicle control, safety, comfort, convenience, powertrain, and infotainment, vehicle safety is the key factor that majorly impacts the demand for MEMS in the automotive industry.

A few major brands in the automotive MEMS market witnessed a regulatory blow in 2014-15, resulting in passive market dynamics. However, the market has recovered rapidly and is currently growing at a significant pace, according to new research recently published by Future Market Insights.

The major applications of automotive MEMS include airbags, tire pressure monitoring, navigation, and electronic stability. However, according to FMI’s market research, the industry is currently witnessing a growing number of applications, which is expected to continue with the advent of technology and increasing research prospects. The market is thus foreseen to grow at an impressive pace over the forecast period 2016-2026.

Key players in the global automotive MEMS market

According to FMI’s findings, the prominent players in the global automotive MEMS market include Robert Bosch GmbH, General Motors Company, Analog Devices Inc., STMicroelectronics N.V., Sensata Technologies Inc., Panasonic Corporation, Infineon Technologies AG, Delphi Automotive PLC, and Freescale Semiconductors Ltd. (perviously NXP), Denso Corporation, and Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

With the aim of expanding the customer base, few of the prominent players in the automotive MEMS market are setting up their production plants in the foreign market thereby further boosting the market revenues. For instance, on February 20, 2015, Denso Corporation, one of the prominent players in automotive MEMS market confirmed the plans of constructing another plant in Cambodia that would cater to the automotive industries in the region.

Strict government regulations

Various governments are implementing stringent regulations setting the standards for vehicles’ fuel efficiency and emission standards. As a result, major players in the market are increasingly striving to meet the standards through adoption of MEMS, thereby escalating the demand for automotive MEMS in the market. China and India in particular are expected to grow into attractive markets during the forecast period.

Regions with adverse climatic conditions

Studies depict that harsh climatic conditions such as heavy snowfall or rainfall may negatively influence the functioning of MEMS systems in vehicles. Moreover, it is not feasible to replace the entire MEMS system, if it faces a minor fault. This is expected to be a major challcenge that might reflect a shift in consumer behaviour.

Future Market Insight’s research on the global automotive MEMS market offers a 10-year forecast, segmenting the market according to type, applications, and regions.

On the basis of type, the automotive MEMS Market is further segmented into pressure sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, flow sensor and others.

As per the regional analysis, the global automotive MEMS market is segmented into seven key regions, including North America, Latin America, East Europe, West Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.

Researchers at the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, using the liquid crystal elastomer technology, originally developed in the LENS Institute in Florence, demonstrated a bioinspired micro-robot capable of mimicking caterpillar gaits in natural scale. The 15-millimeter long soft robot harvests energy from green light and is controlled by spatially modulated laser beam. Apart from travelling on flat surfaces, it can also climb slopes, squeeze through narrow slits and transport loads.

Caterpillar micro-robot sitting on a finger tip. Credit: Source: FUW

Caterpillar micro-robot sitting on a finger tip. Credit: Source: FUW

For decades scientists and engineers have been trying to build robots mimicking different modes of locomotion found in nature. Most of these designs have rigid skeletons and joints driven by electric or pneumatic actuators. In nature, however, a vast number of creatures navigate their habitats using soft bodies – earthworms, snails and larval insects can effectively move in complex environments using different strategies. Up to date, attempts to create soft robots were limited to larger scale (typically tens of centimeters), mainly due to difficulties in power management and remote control.

Liquid Crystalline Elastomers (LCEs) are smart materials that can exhibit large shape change under illumination with visible light. With the recently developed techniques, it is possible to pattern these soft materials into arbitrary three dimensional forms with a pre-defined actuation performance. The light-induced deformation allows a monolithic LCE structure to perform complex actions without numerous discrete actuators.

Researchers from the University of Warsaw with colleagues from LESN (Italy) and Cambridge (UK) have now developed a natural-scale soft caterpillar robot with an opto-mechanical liquid crystalline elastomer monolithic design. The robot body is made of a light sensitive elastomer stripe with patterned molecular alignment. By controlling the travelling deformation pattern the robot mimics different gaits of its natural relatives. It can also walk up a slope, squeeze through a slit and push objects as heavy as ten times its own mass, demonstrating its ability to perform in challenging environments and pointing at potential future applications.

– Designing soft robots calls for a completely new paradigm in their mechanics, power supply and control. We are only beginning to learn from nature and shift our design approaches towards these that emerged in natural evolution – says Piotr Wasylczyk, head of the Photonic Nanostructure Facility at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw, Poland, who led the project.

Researchers hope that rethinking materials, fabrication techniques and design strategies should open up new areas of soft robotics in micro- and millimeter length scales, including swimmers (both on-surface and underwater) and even fliers.

Technavio analysts forecast the global silicon photonics market to grow at an impressive CAGR of over 48% during the forecast period, according to their latest report.

The research study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global silicon photonics market for 2016-2020. The report also segments the market on the basis of application into the three categories consisting of communications, consumer electronics and others, with communications accounting for 95% of the market. The use of silicon photonics components in the consumer electronics sector is limited to a mere 1% during the forecast period, however, this segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 48% during the forecast period. Other sectors such as medical, military, and robotics present considerable growth potential for this technology. The others sector will grow at a CAGR of close to 61% during the forecast period.

The silicon photonics technology can achieve speeds of up to 100 Gbps. The use of this technology will help increase power efficiency and improve the data transfer rate.

Silicon photonics technology is a novel approach to manufacturing optical devices from silicon and uses photons to transfer large volumes of data at very high speeds using extremely low power over thin optical interconnects instead of using electrical signals over a copper cable.

Technavio hardware and semiconductor analysts highlight the following four factors that are contributing to the growth of the global silicon photonics market:

  • Need for higher network bandwidth
  • Reduction in transportation costs and scalability beyond 40G
  • Huge investments through public funding
  • Silicon photonics will improve energy efficiency

Need for higher network bandwidth

According to Asif Gani, a lead analyst at Technavio for embedded systems research, “The growth in internet bandwidth is fueled by two factors which are the proliferation of smartphones, tablets, and wearables with increasing functionalities and the emergence of disruptive technologies that increase bandwidth use.

Silicon photonic devices are capable of transmitting data using far less power and of moving information much more quickly by achieving speeds of up to 40 Gbps. The primary reason a large number of companies are pushing to bring this technology to the market, is that silicon photonics is required for exascale-level computing.

Reduction in transportation costs and scalability beyond 40G

The adoption of silicon photonics has benefited the carriers largely. This network structure has allowed them to transport to multiple clients on a single wavelength and preserve their specific requirements. The overall cost of transportation has also fallen, as they don’t need separate wavelengths for separate clients, thereby ensuring efficient bandwidth utilization.

With silicon photonics, carriers are able to provide high-capacity services at speeds of 100G and above. The network architecture of silicon photonics is designed and optimized to support massive capacity services such as 400G or even terabit payloads. This was not possible with the previous generation technologies such as SONET or software-defined networking (SDN). This will create demand for silicon photonics devices in the global market.

Silicon photonics technology is also able to support the partitioning of the network into separate private networks. This allows the carriers to offer clients dedicated, specific, and configurable bandwidth with a guarantee on network capacity and enhanced performance for each client. This portioning does not affect the existing services or existing users in any way. Thus, clients can now have a dedicated and independent set of network resources.

Huge investments through public funding

Silicon photonics technology shows significant potential for increasing data transmission speeds at lower costs in the coming years. In 2015, IBM announced a breakthrough in the field of silicon photonics by introducing the first fully integrated wavelength multiplexed chip. This new device is designed to aid the production of 100 Gbps optical transceivers and permits electrical and optical components to function side-by-side in one package. This type of on-die integration will be important to the long-term deployment of optical technology over short distances.

Apart from IBM, companies like Intel, Luxtera, and many more are investing heavily in making silicon photonics more efficient and reliable. The efforts made by these companies have been noticed by government organizations and investors around the globe. The silicon photonics market is receiving support in the form of large investments. In July 2015, the US government announced an investment of over USD 600 million in the photonics industry as a step toward investment in US manufacturing. A large portion of this funding will be dedicated solely to the development of silicon photonics technology. “These investments, will help the rapid development of silicon photonics technology and thus will continue to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period,” says Asif.

Silicon photonics will improve energy efficiency

Photonics technologies form the core of today’s telecommunication and data infrastructure. They will be integrated into communications networks. The adoption of a range of photonic technologies in the communications sector will have a considerable impact on the energy efficiency of these networks. Industry experts have estimated that photonic transmitters, photonic tunable lasers, photonic receivers, and photonic multiplexing components will contribute to energy savings of almost 5%-10% by 2020 with the integration of photonics integrated circuits.

This is primarily because photonic components will reduce the need for cooling by allowing devices to operate at higher temperatures, as well as make electrical-to-optical conversion efficient by removing non-radiative recombination processes. The complete implementation of the photonics technology into the communications sector will increase the energy efficiency even further. In 2015, major players in the communications sector such as AT&T, Bell Labs, Huawei, and Chunghwa Telecom agreed to improve energy efficiency by adopting silicon photonics technology.

Recognizing the massive growth potential of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors in Internet of Things (IoT) applications, MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) will hold its third annual MEMS & Sensors Industry Group Conference Asia in Shanghai, China on September 13-14, 2016. Held in partnership with Shanghai Industrial Technology Research Institute (SITRI) and co-located with SENSOR CHINA, “The Internet of MEMS and Sensors Today and the Internet of TSensors Tomorrow” is a two-day conference focused on near- and long-term opportunities for MEMS and sensors in the IoT. MSIG and its members will also participate in a two-day exposition at SENSOR CHINA.

The IoT market is expanding rapidly, presenting huge market opportunities for MEMS and sensors. According to IHS Technology, the IoT market will grow from 15.4 billion devices in 2015 to 75.4 billion in 2025.

That growth has caught the attention of the global MEMS and sensors supply chain: “MEMS and sensors are critical to IoT devices,” said Karen Lightman, executive director, MEMS & Sensors Industry Group. “From smartphones that monitor air quality and agricultural sensors that manage irrigation to smart city applications that monitor structural health, adapt street lights to weather and light conditions, and enable smart roads, MEMS and sensors allow IoT devices to measure, monitor, sense and interact with our always-changing environment.”

Ms. Lightman added, “On September 13, attendees will gain actionable intelligence on the IoT devices of the near future — those applications that will reach commercialization within the next two to five years. On September 14, they will learn about the IoT devices that will come to market in ten to 20 years. Those speakers will address our TSensors vision — a transformational movement advocating the use of a trillion sensors to address major world problems — as they consider longer-term opportunities in the IoT.”

Conference Agenda
Featured presentations currently include:

Additional featured speakers include:

  • Masayuki Abe, manager, Corporate Production Technology, Asahi Kasei Corporation
  • Dr. Janusz Bryzek, CEO, eXo Systems, Inc., and founder, TSensors
  • Ahmed Busnaina, professor & director, NSF Center, Northeastern University
  • Susumu Kaminaga, executive senior advisor, SPP Technologies Co., Ltd.
  • Karen Lightman, executive director, MEMS & Sensors Industry Group
  • Ryoma Miyake, Process Development Group, Silicon Sensing Products, Ltd.
  • Keynote Speaker Tomy Runne, senior manager of planning and promotion department, Sensor Product Division, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
  • Keynote Speaker Dr. Jian Xu, executive general manager, Shanghai International Autocity Development Co., Ltd.

Panel
Context Computing — panel moderated by Leopold Beer, regional president AP, Bosch Sensortec, with panelists:

  • Xianfeng (Sean) Ding, director of sensing, Huawei Technologies
  • Ruizhen Liu, Shanghai Academy of Artificial Intelligence
  • Yang (Richard) Shi, industry strategy expert, Huawei Technologies

ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ON) this week announced that it is joining the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA), which champions the business interests of more than 430 member automotive suppliers. All members also belong to the parent Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA), which represents more than 1,000 companies from both the original equipment and aftermarket segments of the light vehicle and commercial vehicle industries.

Joining these organizations enables ON Semiconductor to work more closely with its customers on the policy issues that matter to the automotive industry, such as the promotion of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). MEMA estimates that ADAS technologies alone have the potential to prevent 30 percent of all crashes, and ON Semiconductor is a supplier of the components that are used in these systems.

“As the #2 ranked non-microcontroller automotive semiconductor supplier, we have long recognized the importance of working closely with customers to promote the policies and technologies that will advance innovation in vital areas like safety and sustainability,” said Lance Williams, vice president of automotive strategy and OEM development at ON Semiconductor. “OESA and MEMA are two of the automotive industry’s most well respected trade associations, and we look forward to expanding our collaborations with their more than 1,000 member companies.”

IBM (NYSE:  IBM) scientists have created randomly spiking neurons using phase-change materials to store and process data. This demonstration marks a significant step forward in the development of energy-efficient, ultra-dense integrated neuromorphic technologies for applications in cognitive computing.

An artistic rendering of a population of stochastic phase-change neurons which appears on the cover of Nature Nanotechnology, 3 August 2016. Credit: IBM Research

An artistic rendering of a population of stochastic phase-change neurons which appears on the cover of Nature Nanotechnology, 3 August 2016. Credit: IBM Research

Inspired by the way the biological brain functions, scientists have theorized for decades that it should be possible to imitate the versatile computational capabilities of large populations of neurons. However, doing so at densities and with a power budget that would be comparable to those seen in biology has been a significant challenge, until now.

“We have been researching phase-change materials for memory applications for over a decade, and our progress in the past 24 months has been remarkable,” said IBM Fellow Evangelos Eleftheriou. “In this period, we have discovered and published new memory techniques, including projected memory, stored 3 bits per cell in phase-change memory for the first time, and now are demonstrating the powerful capabilities of phase-change-based artificial neurons, which can perform various computational primitives such as data-correlation detection and unsupervised learning at high speeds using very little energy.”

The results of this research are appearing today on the cover of the peer-reviewed journal Nature Nanotechnology.

The artificial neurons designed by IBM scientists in Zurich consist of phase-change materials, including germanium antimony telluride, which exhibit two stable states, an amorphous one (without a clearly defined structure) and a crystalline one (with structure). These materials are the basis of re-writable Blu-ray discs. However, the artificial neurons do not store digital information; they are analog, just like the synapses and neurons in our biological brain.

In the published demonstration, the team applied a series of electrical pulses to the artificial neurons, which resulted in the progressive crystallization of the phase-change material, ultimately causing the neuron to fire. In neuroscience, this function is known as the integrate-and-fire property of biological neurons. This is the foundation for event-based computation and, in principle, is similar to how our brain triggers a response when we touch something hot.

Exploiting this integrate-and-fire property, even a single neuron can be used to detect patterns and discover correlations in real-time streams of event-based data. For example, in the Internet of Things, sensors can collect and analyze volumes of weather data collected at the edge for faster forecasts. The artificial neurons could be used to detect patterns in financial transactions to find discrepancies or use data from social media to discover new cultural trends in real time. Large populations of these high-speed, low-energy nano-scale neurons could also be used in neuromorphic coprocessors with co-located memory and processing units.

IBM scientists have organized hundreds of artificial neurons into populations and used them to represent fast and complex signals. Moreover, the artificial neurons have been shown to sustain billions of switching cycles, which would correspond to multiple years of operation at an update frequency of 100 Hz. The energy required for each neuron update was less than five picojoule and the average power less than 120 microwatts — for comparison, 60 million microwatts power a 60 watt lightbulb.

“Populations of stochastic phase-change neurons, combined with other nanoscale computational elements such as artificial synapses, could be a key enabler for the creation of a new generation of extremely dense neuromorphic computing systems,” said Tomas Tuma, a co-author of the paper.

By Marwan Boustany, senior analyst, MEMS and sensors, IHS Markit

With less potential for organic volume growth due to slowing end-product markets, market-share competition will dominate in 2016. MEMS suppliers will therefore focus more on sensor improvement (power and performance), portfolio expansion and innovation (new sensor categories), acquisitions (rapid capability integration), new business models (software services based on sensors) and expansion into new product categories (drones, smart homes, etc.).

Even as motion sensors and other traditional MEMS markets slow down, there are new and growing opportunities, including the following:

  • Virtual-reality headsets using motion sensors and microphones are a growing category in gaming, with HTC, Facebook and Sony all offering products.
  • Drones that use motion sensors began to take off in 2015. While this is a segment with a lot of potential, regulatory issues may have an as yet unclear impact on future sales volume, especially when the potential for delivery drones from Amazon are considered.
  • Home environmental monitoring, using gas, humidity and temperature sensors, show good opportunity for growth. This segment is led by smart home products from Nest and Honeywell, as well as carbon-monoxide detection regulations and growing consumer adoption of air-purifiers.
  • E-cigarettes, using flow sensors, are also on the rise.

Leading MEMS sensor manufacturer trends

Following is a top-line review of the three leading MEMS sensor manufacturers, based on 2015 revenue:

1. STMicroelectronics 

STMicroelectronics is still the revenue leader for consumer MEMS, thanks to its business across a wide range of sensor types. The company’s consumer MEMS revenue lead continued to erode at a fast rate last year, with competitors growing share, the company’s first-place revenue lead has narrowed from $100 million in 2014 to around $10 million in 2015. STMicroelectronic’s motion sensor revenue continued to decline in 2015, however it was helped by its growing success with 6-axis inertial measurement units (IMUs) used mainly by manufacturers in China.

STMicroelectronics was hit hard in the last two years, because Apple shifted its gyroscope business to InvenSense in 2014; however, STMicroelectronics won the Apple Watch business in 2015 with its 6-axis IMU and also increased its share of motion sensors used by Samsung in 2016.

2. Knowles

Knowles is still the dominant leader in MEMS microphones, leading the second-ranked suppler (Goertek) by a power of three in units and revenue. In addition to offering a wide range of analog and digital-output microphones, Knowles has also started shipping its VoiceIQ microphones with local processing in 2016, as it seeks to address both mobile and internet of things (IoT) applications.

While MEMS microphone price erosion has led to revenue decline for Knowles, it still ranks second after STMicroelectronics thanks to a favorable shift in Microphone adoption. The company has dramatically narrowed the lead enjoyed by STMicroelectronics — from more than $100 million in 2014 to just $10 million last year. Knowles provides a large share of MEMS sensors used in Apple’s products, as well as a share in most handsets, tablets and wearable products from other manufacturers.

3. InvenSense

InvenSense overtook Bosch and moved into third-ranked revenue position in the MEMS market last year. The company leads in consumer motion sensor revenue, thanks to dramatic volume growth for 6-axis IMUs as well as its dedicated optical-image stabilization (OIS) gyroscope. InvenSense is the standout MEMS supplier in terms of motion sensor revenue growth, with 26 percent year-over-year revenue growth, while the other sensor leaders suffer declining revenue.

Apple is the key and dominant source of this revenue for InvenSense, especially as it loses share in Samsung to STMicroelectronics in 2016. The company is increasingly pushing its MEMS microphone products against strong competition and hopes to release an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor in 2017 to capitalise on a rapidly growing segment.

top mems suppliers

Source: The IHS Markit MEMS & Sensors for Consumer & Mobile Intelligence Service provides comprehensive insight and analysis on MEMS sensors used in smartphones, wearables and consumer electronics. For information about purchasing this report, contact [email protected].

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) has been named the MEMS Manufacturer of the Year at the MEMS World Summit, the MEMS Manufacturing Conference gathering the top executives in the Worldwide MEMS Manufacturing Industry. The event took place in Shanghai on July 25-26, 2016.

The prestigious recognition from the advisory board members of the MEMS World Summit, which consists of leading research institutes, leading Equipment Manufacturers and MEMS Manufacturers, underlines ST’s position as an industry leader with 11 billion MEMS sensors shipped to date and the only company with the expertise to cover the full range of micro-machined silicon devices that include both sensors and micro-actuators. In naming ST, the jury highlighted the significant role of ST’s high-efficiency 6-axis MEMS sensor modules in driving the transformation of smartphones into intelligent personal assistants as one of the key winning factors. Other high-score criteria for ST included product development, revenue, and company culture.

“ST has always been a leader in MEMS and we want to recognize their continued presence at the top. The evaluating criteria for selecting this year’s winner were also based on factors such as revenue, product development, company culture, and company awareness,” said Salah Nasri, Advisory Board Chair of MEMS World Summit.

“The performance of 6-axis MEMS sensor modules, which have become a key building block of today’s consumer and IoT devices, has enabled new features in smartphones and more broadly new user experiences,” said Andrea Onetti, Group VP and General Manager, MEMS Sensors Division, STMicroelectronics. “ST is honored to receive this award as we strive to bring continuous innovation to the development and deployment of MEMS technologies for a variety of fields, including industrial and automotive.”

Andrea Onetti collected the Award on behalf of ST at the MEMS World Summit’s Gala Dinner.

Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) and Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) this week announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Analog Devices will acquire Linear Technology in a cash and stock transaction that values the combined enterprise at approximately $30 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, Linear Technology shareholders will receive $46.00 per share in cash and 0.2321 of a share of Analog Devices common stock for each share of Linear Technology common stock they hold at the closing of the transaction. The transaction values Linear Technology at approximately $60.00 per share, representing an equity value for Linear Technology of approximately $14.8 billion.

“The combination of Analog Devices and Linear Technology brings together two of the strongest business and technology franchises in the semiconductor industry,” said Vincent Roche, President and Chief Executive Officer of Analog Devices. “Our shared focus on engineering excellence and our highly complementary portfolios of industry-leading products will enable us to solve our customers’ biggest and most complex challenges at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds. We are creating an unparalleled innovation and support partner for our industrial, automotive, and communications infrastructure customers, and I am very excited about what this acquisition means for our customers, our employees, and our industry. ”

Bob Swanson, Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Linear Technology, added, “For 35 years, Linear Technology has had great success by growing its business organically. However, this combination of Linear Technology and Analog Devices has the potential to create a combination where one plus one truly exceeds two. As a result, the Linear Technology Board concluded that this is a compelling transaction that delivers substantial value to our shareholders, and the opportunity for additional upside through stock in the combined company. Analog Devices is a highly respected company. By combining our complementary areas of technology strength, we have an excellent opportunity to reinforce our leadership across the analog and power semiconductor markets, enhancing shareholder value.

Together, Linear Technology and Analog Devices will advance the technology and deliver innovative analog solutions to our customers worldwide. We are committed to working with the ADI team to ensure a smooth transition.”

Mr. Roche concluded, “We have tremendous respect and admiration for the franchise created by Linear Technology. I have no doubt that the combination of our two companies will create a trusted leader in our industry, capable of generating tremendous value for all of our stakeholders.”

Following the transaction close, Mr. Roche, President and CEO of Analog Devices will continue to serve as President and CEO of the combined company, and David Zinsner, SVP and CFO of Analog Devices, will continue to serve as SVP and CFO of the combined company. Analog Devices and Linear Technology anticipate a combined company leadership team with strong representation from both companies across all functions.

The Linear Technology brand will continue to serve as the brand for Analog Devices’ power management offerings. The combined company will use the name Analog Devices, Inc. and continue to trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol ADI.

Analog Devices intends to fund the transaction with approximately 58 million new shares of Analog Devices common stock, approximately $7.3 billion of new long-term debt, and the remainder from the combined company’s balance sheet cash. The new long-term debt is supported by a fully underwritten bridge loan commitment and is expected to consist of term loans and bonds, with emphasis on pre- payable debt, to facilitate rapid deleveraging.

This transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. Closing of the transaction is expected by the end of the first half of calendar year 2017, and is subject to regulatory approvals in various jurisdictions, the approval of Linear Technology’s shareholders, and other customary closing conditions.